


If I'm out of sight take another look around.

by ilili



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate History, Angst, F/F, Implied Past Relationships, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, This Is A Disaster, btw not implied past relationships anymore, calling out the wrong name during sex, kind of, pharah and mercy have known each other for a long time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-07-22 19:32:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7451338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilili/pseuds/ilili
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fareeha's been in love with Angela since they first met. Their first encounter together is a memorable one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There's sex in this, sorry. I tried to make it not too explicit but... oh well.

"...the police have secured the perimeter, and Winston has the necessary data to cause a sizeable media scandal for Vishkar. On top of that, we managed to keep casualties to the bare minimum. We'll have to thank Torbjorn personally for his excellent non-lethal alternative to your rockets, wouldn't you agree Ms. Amari?"

Angela turned to her partner, who was trying to suppress a grin and, failing that, cutting into laughter. She'd always been quick to laugh, she thought. always ready to show off her toothy grin and her laugh that filled the room, always looking for an excuse to show off either.

 _Nothing like Ana._  She noted.

"I tend to agree, Doctor." She chuckled warmly. With a grunt of effort, she pulled her Raptora suits chest piece in two from the side, setting the front half down in front of her as her hands moved automatically to the straps sustaining the back. It only took her a few seconds to have the rest of the mechanism off of her body and resting on the ground beside her. 

They were storing their equipment in a dilapidated garage in Dorado, long since abandoned by the former owners, and staying in a small hotel not far away. The circumstances of their mission required they disguise themselves as tourists to avoid any suspicion before the actual operation of infiltrating Vishkars Dorado headquarters took place. Angela enjoyed the relative peace and quiet of an undercover mission.

 _And,_ she noted, _playing house with Fareeha like this has not been an unpleasant aspect of the job._

Fareehas back was facing angela now, and it struck her just what an impressive back it was. Her shoulders were broad, her body lean and muscular, and, bending forward, she cut an imposing figure from behind. Sweat had made her black tank top stick to her body, and Angela could see through the thin fabric the curve of her back, the muscles that moved as she stood up and stretched. She was tall now; taller than Angela by more than a few inches, and bigger in most every dimension.

Her hair was short now, too. the last time Angela had seen her was over 5 years ago, before the recall. She'd had such long, dazzling hair back then that reminded Angela of her mothers. Now it was cut short at the neck, probably to make wearing her helmet less of a hassle, or maybe just to avoid the comparisons to her mother. Regardless, it looked good on her.

 _But when did Ana's daughter become so beautiful?_  Angela thought.

For as long as she'd known her, Fareeha had always looked as a child to Angela; she recalled countless times Fareeha, face burning, had reminded her not to treat her as such, because she was 13, 17, 21. Now she stood above her, her own woman through and through, and there was something about this new Fareeha that struck her as though she was with a different person entirely. A person who had freed herself from a legacy that had left no space for her, collapsed upon itself and left a vacuum where it stood before. 

It took Angela a moment to realize Fareeha had stopped laughing, and was looking at her expectantly. She'd been staring the whole time without realizing it. 

Fareeha didn't seem to mind in the slightest. She looked almost pleased with herself, in fact. 

"Oh, goodness, I'm sorry!" said Angela, putting a hand to her face; she was blushing now. 

"Don't worry, Doc. It happens to the best of us." eplied Fareeha, and with a sly wink "-or so i've heard." 

Before she could find the words to defend herself, Fareeha was already walking towards the door and beckoning her to follow. She gestured for Angela to step outside as she turned to the breaker in the corner to shut off the lights. There was a short chorus of circuits crashing as the fluorescent tubes sputtered out into black, and off into the night streets of Dorado they went. 

They walked together without either speaking a word for a few blocks, just taking in the sight of Dorado at night for what they could only assume would be their last chance for while; no doubt both Vishkar and the city police themselves will be on high alert for Overwatch activity in the coming months, and they'd both been so consumed with keeping their cover believable for the past few weeks that they'd never had the opportunity to simply take in their surroundings. 

It was Fareeha that finally broke the silence. "You know, when I was with Helix we'd always get together for drinks after a successful mission..." 

Angela noted a slight nervous twinge in Fareehas voice. It was one she was intimately familiar with from watching Fareeha grow up, but hadn't heard since their reuniting with the new Overwatch. It sounded almost unfamiliar to her now.

"Are you saying you'd like to take me out for drinks, Fareeha?" prodded Angela. A little joke.

To her surprise, the other woman went silent for a moment. She looked as though she was chewing through her next words thoughtfully before letting them go.

"I guess that's exactly what I'm saying, Ange." she chuckled sheepishly.

 _There's that laugh again._ thought Angela. _T_ _hat perfect laugh._

"...That sounds lovely." she answered.

 

* * *

 

 

  
This wasn't their first time out together for drinks, but it was certainly the first time they'd gone out as a pair. Angela was always too busy with her work to make dates with anyone in particular; if Overwatch weren't so desperately understaffed since the recall, she might not have had this opportunity. 

She decided to savour it as it comes.

They'd been drinking an hour or so now, Angela couldn't quite tell for sure, catching up and telling each other stories of their lives between the fall of the old guard and now. Angela kept the details of her professional life to a minimum; she'd harbored no love for Overwatch as it was back then, but her life since was a wholly more complicated endeavour. Quietly, and to herself in her private moments, she thanked Winston for bringing everyone back together. 

Fareeha held nothing back. She had stories to spare of her missions with Helix, tales of her dashing heroics (although she was too humble to phrase it like that) and of her life since Overwatch disbanded. Since her mother was declared KIA.

"I felt... lost without it at first." said Fareeha. "But it was also freeing, in a way..." 

She paused for a second, probing Angelas eyes with her own, as though she were looking for her permission to continue speaking. Angela just nodded her head; at this point in the night all she wanted was to hear Fareehas deep voice, watch her soft lips wrap themselves around her words. 

Fareeha took that as the sign she needed. "...I feel so conflicted about it every single day... I'd spent my whole life looking up to her, wanting to be like her and fight by her side... Your side. And then she just... She left us."

Angelas heart was beating faster.

"But it hasn't been all bad. Without overwatch and without... Her, i've been able to... spread my wings, as it were." Fareeha finished, and after a short pause started laughing softly at her own joke. 

Her arm moved on its own. 

Angelas hand rested atop Fareehas own across the table. Fareeha stared at it for a while, as though she were confused about what was happening, but she didn't move at all. Without thinking, Angela began tracing a small, slow circle with her finger on the back of Fareehas hand, delicate while the rest of her fingers clasped to the other womans for dear life. 

Angela stared into Fareehas eyes, and Fareeha stared at the paintings Angela was drawing on her palm.

As though she'd only just regained control of herself, Fareeha shifted in her seat, turning her hand over and lacing her fingers between Angelas, still not looking the other woman in the eye.

"Would you like to go back to the hotel?" asked Angela.

"Yeah." answered Fareeha, almost a whisper.

 

* * *

 

 

  
Angela led her by the hand all the way to the hotel, into their room, over to the bed where she finally relented and moved her hands to the other womans breasts, her waist as she pushed her down and held her in a long kiss. Her breath smelled like alcohol but, Angela thought, so must hers before she turned her mind to more important things, like getting Fareeha out of her clothes.

Her hands shifted now to Fareehas waist, untying the drawstrings of her military pants in seconds, earning her a spot of praise between pressed lips. ("You always did look good with your fingers, Angela.") She moved her hands upwards towards her partners breasts, but found herself lost in the warm ridges of her abdomen instead, eliciting a sharp gasp from herself and a breathy chuckle from Fareeha, who was trying her best to unbutton Angelas blouse from underneath her. Failing that, and too horny at this point to care, she simply ripped Angelas shirt off herself, prompting another gasp from the other woman.

They stayed locked together like this until Angela found the strength to pull away and admire her work. Fareeha was lying below her, face and neck and breasts covered with red lipstick marks, her hair disheveled and spreading out in every direction on the sheets. She smelled like sweat and alcohol and war, and it drove Angela wild. She must have looked like a mess herself, but she hardly cared enough now to stop and fix herself.

 

* * *

 

 

Angela was straddled across Fareehas legs, naked as the day she was born. Everything about being underneath her felt right to Fareeha; the weight of her body, the way her skin felt rubbing against her own, the way her hands settled into angelas hips like they were meant to be there. With a little encouragement and a slight change of position, she encouraged her partner to start grinding against her while her mouth journeyed towards her breasts, nipping at her in all the places she'd fantasized about, illiciting grateful moans she'd always dreamed of. 

She'd been in love with Angela since they first met. It had been so many years ago, she was only a teenager then. She'd dreamt about how Angelas skin must have tasted, how her thighs must have felt to touch, how electric her lips must feel. Now she was here, moaning for her and her alone; nothing could be as perfect as this moment.

 

* * *

 

 

She couldn't think straight anymore.

The way her body moved under her, the way she attended to her in every small way, the electricity of her touch that sent jolts through her skin and made her mind go numb. She hadn't felt like this in so long, it had been so many years.

She was drunk, she wasn't thinking clearly.

 _"Ana, Ana, Ana!"_

Everything stood still.

She felt Fareehas hands retreat from her hips only seconds before being bucked off onto the bed. Her partner had retreated to the other side of the room, gathering her clothes around her, covering herself. Angela had known her since she was a child, and she'd never seen Fareeha look smaller. 

They stared at each other for a long time. Neither could find a word to say. Even in the darkness of the hotel room she could tell Fareeha was choking back tears. 

Another eternity of silence, until

"You need to leave."

"Fareeha, i'm so sor-"

"GO, NOW. GET OUT."

Her voice shook the room. Angela could only surrender to Fareeha's will as she gathered her clothes from the floor and dressed herself in silence. 

Walking out into the hallway she turned back to look at Fareeha one last time. She stood there, barring the doorway with her body, trying to regain her composure, but her face betraying her anger, her pain. Her disgust.

Angela booked a room a few floors down. Neither spoke to each other the next morning at breakfast, and Fareeha slept, or pretended to sleep, the entire flight back to Gibraltar.

 

* * *

 

 

She caught her one day overlooking the box gardens. It had been a few months since that night. They hadn't spoken much since then, both deciding to pour themselves into their work.

Angela spoke first.

"How are you today, Ms. Amari?"

"I'm well, thank you." and after a pause. "-Doctor Ziegler."

The two stood there for a long while, tending to the plants in silence and watching the waves roll by off the shore. Angela wondered how this moment might have played out if she hadn't done what she'd done. 

"Well, I should get back to work I suppose." she said finally, brushing the dirt off her clothes. 

"A Doctor's job is never done."

 


	2. We could rewind all those tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god im so sorry pharmercy shippers

_"A pretty young thing like you shouldn't be stuck in a lab all day..." Ana purred, resting a hand on Angela's hip, the other playing with a loose strand of hair resting on her cheek. Her voice was low and quiet, nearly a whisper, but Angela was all too aware of her surroundings right now; the heat from Ana's body pressed against her from behind, the stroke of her hand against her face, the hot tingling sensation of her breath on the back of her neck that caused goosebumps down her arms and legs._

_"M-miss Amari..." was all she could manage in return._

I must sound so childish. _she thought. The last thing she wanted was Ana to treat her like a child._

_But she'd wanted this for a long time._

_Since they first met she'd been unable to take her eyes off of Ana Amari. Distracted, furtive glances during meetings, eyes (and hands) lingering a tad too long during routine checkups. She'd kept her distance at first, admired from afar until work unceremoniously brought them closer together, in a hospital room or on a battlefield._

_It wasn't until Ana started staring back that she'd managed to find her courage. When she crossed a room, Ana's eyes followed, and when she stopped, they lingered (especially when Angela oh-so-clumsily managed to drop her pen, always taking two or three seconds too long to stand up straight again, always glancing back to see Ana's eyes dart away from her a second too late.) In one of her bolder moments she'd gone in to work casually forgetting to wear a bra, and she'd been proud at how much she'd managed to make the older woman squirm._

_And despite it all, they'd never touched each other. At least, not like this. Not until now._

_"You're like an angel, you know that, little one?" whispered Ana, hand shifting from Angelas hip to part the labcoat she wore at the front. "I've been thinking about you all the time... You have a way of worming yourself into my thoughts..." one quick motion, and Angela's labcoat was undone, Ana's hands now exploring downwards..._

_"I've wanted to show you so badly how an Amari does it." she finished, pressing her lips to Angela's bare neck. She curled her fingers inward, eliciting a sharp gasp inward from Angela, a choked moan, her legs starting to shake._

_"Ana, Ana, Ana..." was all Angela could manage._

 

* * *

 

 

  
Ana Amari came home.

The celebration was brief; Everyone who knew Ana well enough to commemorate her return had already gathered in the briefing room before she'd even arrived. There were tears shed, hugs shared, and a fair bit of laughter from Reinhardt alone.  
Angela felt too sick to attend.

When word arrived that Ana was still alive, a terrible knot had formed in the pit of her stomach, and it refused to leave until she saw for herself if it was true. When Ana stepped off the carrier jet into the midday sun, she expected the tension to go away. When she removed her helmet, pulled off her hood, let her white hair flow in the sea breeze, it had the exact opposite effect.

She'd hovered around the fringes, following Ana around the base from a distance, feeling once again like the small girl she'd been when they'd first met. If Ana noticed, she was making an effort to seem otherwise; Angela was no master of stealth, and Reinhardt had called out for her to join them more than once now. She politely declined each time.

Neither was going to speak to the other. Not until Ana had spoken to Fareeha.

 

It was another few hours before she returned from her mission and greeted her mother on the helipad. For this, Angela finally worked up the nerve to be present.  
She cared deeply for both women, despite her mistakes in how she'd treated them; it would feel wrong not to be present for their reunion.

Fareeha walked towards her mother slowly, as if she were afraid she'd scare her off if she approached too fast, and then, confident she was truly real, pulled her into a hug that lifted the older woman off her feet. Her eyes were wet with tears, but she stayed composed. She was a professional in that way. 

They held each other like that for another few seconds until Fareeha relented and set her mother back on her feet. Ana just laughed.

"How have you been, little bird?" said Ana, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I've missed you so dearly..."

"I've been getting by, Mother." she laughed, her voice cracking almost imperceptibly. "Better since I got your letter."

Angela froze.

_What letter?_

Her mind began to race as she tried to figure out when Fareeha might have received coorespondence from her mother. She would have told me, wouldn't she? she thought, recalling the long nights they'd spent together, Fareeha staking a claim on her office couch while she was busy with her work, sharing her most private thoughts as Angela lended a sympathetic ear. It occurred to Angela just how much trust Fareeha had placed in her over the years.

_And I've betrayed that trust._ she thought. _Terribly._

She had to have received her letter sometime in the past few months, Angela realized, and the knot in her stomach returned. 

She remained on the sidelines until mother and daughter decided to retreat to a more private setting to continue their reunion. Once they were out of sight, Angela walked briskly back to her room, trying her best to stifle her tears until the door was locked safely behind her. 

As if on queue, she slumped down on the floor, letting a few decades worth of stifled emotions come out in sobs. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i guess im turning this into a multi chapter fic... with more details about ana and angelas relationship... and maybe add some more relationships to the mix as i go??? who knows


	3. You don't have to feel it anymore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fareeha needs answers about some things that have been bothering her.

Something about Jesse McCree seemed immovable.

Maybe it was the way he looked bundled in his serape smoking cigarillos, leaning back into the gymnasium wall and resting his feet on a crate of equipment. He was settled in, and no one would get him up and going unless they carried him out themself.

She liked that about him; the way he seemed like nothing could phase him, no matter how huge it was. She'd always trusted him to be there for her when she needed him, and he'd always been there to listen.

And she needed someone to talk to right now, badly.

 

"Jesse." she nodded curtly.

"Ma'am." he replied, smiling.

Jesse cleared some space on the crate he was sitting on, shifting to the side so Fareeha would have a place to sit. She obliged, and he tipped his hat cooly. Ever a gentleman.

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods, Fareeha? Y'ain't supposed to be checkin' up on me or anything like that are you?" he asked, scratching his chin thoughtfully before gesturing to the huge pile of crates sitting next to him. "-'cuz i was supposed to be unloading these today, but I figured there was no point if we're just gonna be scrappin' everything next month anyway."

 She saw his point: Since the recall happened, they'd all had to unpack only the essential equipment to keep Gibraltar up and running; everything else had been left in crates, eventually finding its way to one of the derelict gymnasiums they had scattered throughout the base. This one in particular used to be for recreational use, Fareeha recalled. She remembered playing a pickup game of basketball here when she was a child, her team being Jesse, Uncle Gabriel, Angela...

A pang of nostalgia mixed with longing filled her chest, and she decided that was a memory she didn't want to think about right now.

 

"...I'm just here for personal business, that's all." she said, and Jesse let out a laugh.

"Even when you're not on the job, you're still workin'." he chuckled. "I been tellin' you since you were a kid, ain't such a thing as personal "business." You gotta stop treatin' everything like it's a mission."

Fareeha laughed, and with a wry smile "You're right, I should learn to start taking naps on the job more."

Red filled Jesse's cheeks as he sat up straight to meet her. "Hey, I wasn't nappin'! I was just-" -his voice trailing off- "-gettin' off my feet for a bit..."

She shot him an amused look, and his mouth curled back up into a smirk. "Ok, I might've been resting my eyes for a bit. Happy?"

She nodded, and Jesse leaned back against the wall, taking another drag from his cigarillo.

"So, "Personal Business" y'say? What can I do y'for then?"

Calm and unassuming. She always appreciated how he never tried to guess what she wanted before she even spoke; It was one of the reasons he'd slowly become her confidant over the years.

She remembered how much she'd missed him after Overwatch had disbanded, and how she'd read about him in the news, always being pursued by some bounty hunter or another, running from the law. She'd been worried sick for him then; the relief she'd felt when she'd first arrived at Gibraltar and found Jesse waiting for her with open arms was palpable.

When she'd thought her mother was dead, Jesse had felt like her only family left in the world. It was because of her mother that she had looked for him today.

_Her and..._

She cut herself off. She didn't want to think about her right now.

 

"...It's about Mother." said Fareeha, and Jesse's expression hardened almost imperceptibly.

"Far... I just want you to know, I'm happy to see the old bat still alive and kickin', and I'm honored to be workin' with her again, but it was a sin what she pulled on you... On all of us, but especially on you." he put a hand on Fareeha's shoulder, and she lifted a hand to meet his. She gave it a single tight squeeze, and both their hands were back in their laps. He never overstayed his welcome.

"I appreciate it, but that's not what this is about... I've made my peace with her, and..." she paused, feeling nauseous as the words she wanted to say sat in her throat, but barreling forward anyway "-and there are some things we have to sort out, just the two of us. But I'm here because I want to know about _you._ "

Jesse gave her a bemused stare and held it for a solid few seconds, until "What do you wanna know about, exactly?"

"I know you were her..." she paused to find the right words, hoping they wouldn't expose her intent "...student. I just wanna know how... close you were."

Red returned to Jesse's cheeks. Fareeha's stomach lurched.

Jesse removed his hat, pulled the cigarillo from his lips, and stood up to crush it with his boot heel. He turned to face her and held her gaze for a while, as if trying to figure out if it was right to share what he was going to, what he _wanted_ to, with Fareeha.

As if a light had flickered on inside his head, he finally spoke. "...We were real close. I spent most all of my time with Reyes but... She's the one who taught me to shoot."

He paused again, as though trying to find the right words to say next. "...I spent about a year, year-and-a-half under her wing after Reyes decided I wasn't worth shit to 'im, 'least not til I learned how to hit anything. We weren't together all that long but..." he gazed down at the floor. "...there was a while where we'd eat, sleep, breathe each other. She knew everything about me, and I figured I knew everything about her. We were inseparable."

He looked up to meet Fareeha's eyes again, and she was trying to choke back tears. Poorly, at that. He clicked his tongue, cursed under his breath as he reached into his pocket for another cigarillo.

"...I really didn't want you to know all this, 'cuz I knew you trusted me and I knew there was always some bad blood between you and your 'ma but..." he gestured vaguely with his metal arm, searching for the right words to say. "We thought we lost her once, feels like a miracle that she's back. I needed to tell you this now while you still gotta chance to reconcile."

Silence filled the room for a while, save for the sound of seabirds outside and the splashing of waves in the distance.

Fareeha feared as though everyone she cared about would betray her eventually.

Or even worse, had already betrayed her.

"...Did you love her?" she asked finally, voice at risk of cracking from her tears.

"...Yeah. I did." he responded immediately, almost mechanically. "Not anymore."

"Did you ever..." her voice caught in her throat this time, unable to continue.

His look of bafflement quickly shifted to horror as he pieced together what she meant.

"No, no, oh my god Far, I would never!" he said, shocked and almost a bit disgusted. "I've never touched her in my life, I swear!"

Fareeha shot him a glare that could split a mountain down the middle, but he didn't budge.

She knew he was telling the truth, and a wave of both relief and shame spread throughout her body.

"Jesus, Fareeha... God, what happened that has you askin' this?" he said, his concern almost a physical force pushing down on her as he spoke. "Did somethin' happen to-"

He stopped mid sentence, and she watched as he cycled through a million different emotions at once, each one giving him a darker and darker expression.

"Did Angela do somethin' to you?" he growled, and for the first time in Fareeha's life, Jesse McCree seemed intimidating.

 Fareeha wiped her eyes, tried to center herself. "...I'm a grown woman, Jesse, I don't need you to help to-"

"BullSHIT, Fareeha. I've been dealing with that woman since I was 17 years old, I know how she can sink her claws into you and-"

"JESSE." she said, firmer now, trying to stop him from working himself into a rage.

"-and you've had stars in your eyes for her since you were a little girl, she HAD to have known about it, what the fuck is that gal's problem..!" Jesse was pacing now, and at this point must have tuned Fareeha out completely.

Fareeha simply stood up from the crate she'd been sitting on and reached out for Jesse's hand. She didn't have the energy to keep watching him go on like this.

Jesse paused, recognizing the gesture and grinding to a halt. He clutched Fareeha's hand in his own, squeezing tight.

He loosened his grip to let go, but instead of separating, Fareeha pulled him in to a hug, their second since she'd arrived at Gibraltar as an agent of Overwatch.

He squeezed her tight, patting her back and whispering in her ear. "I'm sorry darlin'... I'm so, so sorry..."

Fareeha just took a deep breath, too exhausted for tears.

"Thank you... Me too."

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its mccree! i think im gonna be adding more characters as i go along; this fic is pretty freeform anyway so idek where it'll end up

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to my fuck house


End file.
